Native Species of Bees at the Abbey

I've noticed that every morning my little garden is visited by one or two blue banded bees, (one of our native species). I've seen these blue banded bees visiting the lemon balm and the lavender.

It's really delightful as they are noisy and quick little creatures. It took several attempts to get these images.

Our bee project has put many more bees into the environment and I had wondered how the native bees would fare. Well they are faring very well it seems. I've also spotted two teddy bear bees and a reed bee, all native species.

A Very Good Lesson: BEES ARE WILD AND FREE.

Recently we found one of our hives was queenless and a worker bee was laying.
We did all the things you do for this situation and put in a new queen who was accepted.
I was very pleased with this result because the bees were putting down honey and it seemed all systems go. The next time I looked... no bees! The bees had decided to try greener pastures.
We had given them everything they needed and they were off.

Yes BEE ARE WILD AND FREE and they have the capacity to decide where they want to live.
I just hope they are doing well, somewhere out there in the forest.